"The Fire Within"

Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying your summer. I just got off from my European tour to three different countries and I didn’t forget about you guys.

Also, I just released my 10th solo album, “The Fire Within”. It has 12 new tracks and it is my heaviest album to date, be sure to check it out!

There are many tracks and a lot of guitar on the album. For this lesson, I will be just breaking down just a few examples from a handful of songs. In future lessons I will be covering more songs and sections. Enjoy!

”The Fire Within”

Is the title track of the album and it is track 2. It is an instrumental song with lots of shredding, melodic themes throughout.

Example 1 is what I call the main theme of, “The Fire Within” and it is reoccurring throughout the song. It is mainly just a 3 note triplet sequence that is right inside of the E melodic minor scale. Bar 7, climbs up the scale maintaining the triplet feel. It is very important to accent the downbeats in this phrase to give it more emphasis.

“Feed the Flame”

“Feed the Flame” is track 6 on “The Fire Within” and It is another favorite of mine to play. This song is based in the melodic minor mode (1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7), mainly in G and C melodic minor. There are other modes as well, like Ionian, Phrygian and diminished scales.

Example 2 is what I call the verse section of “Feed the Flame”, that begins at (00:51) and it repeats in the song. It is based on a one string, 4 note sequence in G melodic minor. After it does do the same sequence in C melodic minor at the 5th bar, the same pattern moves down a 5th. It is very fast, be sure to accent the down beats and be sure to pick each note precisely.

After each verse section of, “Feed the Flame” there is this arpeggio phrase that begins at (1:23) and it repeats in other sections after the verse as well. Example 3 is just a D major arpeggio (D, F#, A) that is inverted on the high E string. The phrase repeats though each arpeggio inversion on one string and alternates with the open E string, that moves down the neck. With the open E, the D major arpeggio creates the sound of a D Add9 arpeggio.

“Broken Promises”

“Broken Promises” is track 3, on the “The Fire Within” and it is a vocal song, with a whole lot of guitar in it.

With Example 4 we are at the guitar solo break in “Broken Promises”, at (3:05). This is a very fast 2 string picking idea, that is in the G# Phrygian scale and it can make a really great picking exercise. It is very important to make sure both hands are in sync and you are alternate picking all of this. This is a another guitar harmonizing this down a third.

Mike Campese is an all-around music performer, session artist and teacher competent in many musical styles, electric and acoustic. He has studied at G.I.T. (Honors Graduate), and with Paul Gilbert, Norman Brown, Stanley Jordan, Scott Henderson and Keith Wyatt.